Hey everyone,
Jeep noob here. I'm a Toyota guy making the jump. Looks fun, what the hell! I've been looking for 2 weeks and I'm amazed at how these Wranglers hold their value.

I need help deciding on a 2008 JKU Rubicon for 23k. It's got about 90k miles and a really impressive car fax. Auto, hard top.

or

a new 2013 JKU Sport for $23,190. With all the stealership fees it'll be close to 24k I'm sure. But, it's a soft top. A minus for me since I like to carry a kayak.
The new JKU Sport is also a manual, which I prefer.

If I get the hard top my plan is to fab up a roof rack. If I get the soft top, I'll just have to buy a hard top eventually.

Seems like the obvious answer is the new one, but I'm probably missing some virtues of the Rubicon. I'm not a wheeler, just camping, snow, maybe a fire road now and then.

So, here it comes.....which Jeep would you buy?

Thanks all

 

A stock Jeep is a very capable off road vehicle. I can see the added benifits of getting a Rubi if you did some major four wheeling or rock crawling. I have a sport 2dr with 3.73 gears, auto, Rubi 4 dr springs, shock, tires and wheels. Does fine for me. I run alot of logging roads. Now, I might add a rear locker down the road and winch. Where Rubi's come with front and rear lockers and a lower gear for transfer case.

 

Sport. You're getting a fresh vehicle with 80 extra horsepower. It will do fire roads and light trails just as good as a Rubicon would.

(I have a Rubicon and wheel with 3 guys that have sports)

Plus $23k isn't that great of a deal. I found one with 31k miles for $23.5 in 2010.

 

x2, on getting the '13 sport for nearly the same price of the '08 Rubi. With the '13 you get

-More Horsepower
-Pentastar engine
-Better 5 speed trans
-Redesigned interior
-Although it's not a Rubi, it's still a very capable JEEP.

Later on when budget allows you can always upgrade to installing a Rubi transfer case or Atlas and purchase aftermarket lockers which have a better reliability then the factory ones.

Why I wouldn't get the '08 Rubi?
-Don't know the history of the vehicle and what abuse if any the previous owner done to it.
-Do a search on the oil consumption issue on the older 3.8 engines. It is a hit or miss, but I wouldn't chance it. Wouldn't want to spend that much cash only to find out later that it loses oil quickly and may have to replace the engine later.
-Has the previous owner done all the fixes/repairs associated with any recalls, TSBs for that year.
-The list goes on and on

Best of luck on whichever route you take and welcome aboard

 

I'd lean towards the 13 if they are the same price. Or, talk the Rubi down significantly. You have two options for the Kayak. One would be to get a rear folding rack that allows you to carry a kayak but also drop your top simply by folding the rack out of the way. Two would be to search craigslist for a used hard top. I got mine for $900. The Rubicon is great and I won't get rid of mine for anything but for casual off roading, you'll have a seriously capable vehicle in the Sport.

 

Get the new one. You will not be disappointed.

 

Before I bought my last two Wranglers brand new I searched for used ones. There just aren't many used Jeep deals out there and dealers are normally willing to come off their prices significantly on the new ones. Assuming you go aftermarket for wheels and tires, the extras you get with the Rubicon are really only good for moderate rock crawling and gulch trails where you're likely to have a tire in the air and need the lower crawl ratio.

 

I would buy new.

 

My feeling is that since they hold value so well, buy new. The price for a newer used jk is similar to new only you may or may not get the warranty. Plus god only knows what was done or for that matter what wasn't ?

 

Definitely get the new one. That is a lot of miles for an 08. My 07 has half that. The Rubi is nice but I would rather spend the money on newer with less miles